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She was just being a decent human being. Nothing more.
Rishi smiled again, but fully this time, unrestrained. It was like watching the sun rise, Dimple thought, or the streetlights come on at dusk. Gradual, powerful, brilliant, in a way.
It was something inside him that felt different. Off. Like he never truly showed the world who he was except when he was making art.
And then she smiled a smile so dazzling, Rishi tripped over his own feet.
If you love it, you should do it. What’s the point of anything otherwise?”
Rishi wanted to give her a reason to smile.
So it was a kind of magic, being here in this antiques store with a boy whose eyes were just the right shade of honey.
There was a flicker of something in his eye when he looked at her,
Rishi Patel was sort of a fun guy. She might even miss him when he left tomorrow.
she didn’t exactly hate the thought of spending more time with him.
Rishi was a naturally good friend, she could tell, the kind of guy who thought your every fight was his as well.
When you think about it, our families are back in India, about eight thousand miles away. And they’re still so intricately connected to us. We have their names, their rituals, their traditions. Their dreams sit behind our eyelids. I think it’s beautiful.”
We have a blueprint for our lives. I think that makes it all seem comforting somehow. Safe.”
Utterly sure of himself in a really comfortable way. There was something about people who were that secure; they made you feel better about yourself, like they accepted you for everything you were, imperfections and all.
I just … I need some time, Mamma. To be by myself. To find out what I want from life.”
I feel like I need to speak out, because if no one speaks out, if no one says, This is me, this is what I believe in, and this is why I’m different, and this is why that’s okay, then what’s the point? What’s the point of living in this beautiful, great melting pot where everyone can dare to be anything they want to be?”
I was still the outsider, and still strange, and I still didn’t belong.”
Loneliness. That’s what he was describing. And she’d felt it so much it had become like a constant presence in her life, curled up against her like a sleeping cat.
It was weird, but it was like … like she’d seen a part of him she’d never knew existed.
He became someone else, stripped down, unself-conscious, unaware. She’d seen what his soul was made of. And she’d liked it.
“Do it. Do what you love, what you’re passionate about.
Rishi kissed her with purpose, with meaning, like he believed this was exactly where they were supposed to be in this moment. He kissed her till she believed it too.
Rishi felt clearheaded, bright, delighted, amazed. Dimple’s mouth was soft and small and full against his, her body was warm as it pressed into him, and the smell of her skin and hair flooded him like a thousand stadium lights. He was kissing her. He, Rishi Patel, was kissing her, Dimple Shah. And she’d initiated the kiss. How the heck had this happened? How the heck could one guy get so lucky?
But the minute he saw her, it thumped back into his chest, where it began thundering at warp speed. Holy hotness, Batman. She. Looked. Phenomenal. Rishi couldn’t form a coherent thought.
“Dimple Shah … I really like you, too.” He pressed his lips lightly against hers as he kept talking. He felt her shiver again, and he smiled against her mouth. “And I would be honored if this turned into a real date.” Her lips parted against his. And then he was lost in her.
he was like a pop song you thought you couldn’t stand, but found yourself humming in the shower anyway.
And, she realized with a thud, she’d been watching him, too. When she hadn’t been thinking of him, all she’d really been thinking about was him. That first day, after she got over the shock of him popping up out of nowhere, he’d caught her eye. Dimple hadn’t been looking for this … whatever it was between them at all. But somehow she had a feeling that love had found her. It was circling them, waiting for the perfect spot to land.
That they were here, that this magic was for them, that it was real.
The truth was, maybe they’d come to the end of their path together. Maybe it was time to say good-bye.
The thing was just … she’d met him too early in her life. That was the cruelest of things. It wasn’t that Rishi was wrong for her. It was that he was too right.
We need more people with different points of view and experiences and thought processes so we can keep innovating and moving ahead.”
Sometimes I dream in watercolor. You’re brave in a way I could never be,
You’ve made me braver. It’s like you have this paintbrush, dipped in brilliant mauves and teals and golds, and you just totally redid my monochromatic life. I need you; I need your paintbrush.”
that I forgot to consider one thing: This is our life. We get to decide the rules. We get to say what goes and what stays, what matters and what doesn’t.
